I Will Stage A Coup D’état

Mussolini was lost in a trance, intoxicated with brandy and drugs.

What on earth did I do wrong?

Everything he had done was for the sake of this country.

He had only dreamed of restoring the glory of Rome, bringing back self-esteem, and making this country a new Rome.

For a moment, it seemed as if everything was going according to plan.

However, what Mussolini had gained, what he could have gained, slipped through his fingers like a mirage.

And the beautiful illusion ended.

The Duce’s dreams, myths, and the people’s trust.

In the place where the Duce, who had been praised by all, stood, all that remained was a middle-aged man being pointed at by everyone.

The Duce let out a deep sigh and rose from his seat.

On the way to see the King, he flinched at the sight of an unexpected military police, which he had not even thought of.

Could it be that His Majesty had other thoughts in mind?

The Duce could not hide his complex feelings.

It was His Majesty who had entrusted the great responsibility of being Prime Minister to the political thug Mussolini.

If even His Majesty abandons me…

The Duce proceeded through a slightly dark hall to have an audience with the King.

Vittorio Emanuele III¹ had eyes that somehow felt tense, unlike usual.

The Duce bowed politely.

“Your Majesty. I have come to the palace upon your summons.”

The King gently stroked his own ring and spoke to the Duce.

“How many years has it been since I entrusted this country to you?”

“It has been 21 years, Your Majesty.”

“21 years. How time flies.”

It was a trivial remark, but Mussolini was momentarily lost in sentiment.

The glory and shame of Mussolini’s life were all contained in that one remark.

“Indeed, it is so.”

The King did not easily get to the point, yet tried to probe Mussolini’s intentions.

What was he being so cautious about?

Finally, the King’s expression hardened a little, and he uttered resolute words.

“I remember what you have done for the kingdom during this time. However, things have already come to this. So, how about stopping here?”

Mussolini, who heard the unbelievable words from the King’s mouth, flinched.

But the Duce, who had already completely lost his will due to the defeats in Libya and Tunisia, had no will to hold on to power.

He looked at the King for a moment and shed thick tears.

“I, I have failed to meet Your Majesty’s expectations. I pray for the fortune of my successor.”

Mussolini paid his respects to the King and left the audience chamber.

Then the soldiers who were waiting approached and seized him.

Mussolini was arrested by them and dragged away powerlessly.

The fact of Mussolini’s arrest soon became known to the German embassy as well.

The anti-Nazi German ambassador, Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck², took this situation seriously.

Whether he agreed with Nazism or not was not so important.

If Italy broke away from the war front, Germany would be finished without having a chance to do anything.

Berlin, upon receiving the ambassador’s report, hesitated for a moment to make a decision.

There was a repeated debate on whether it was right to deploy a large-scale field unit to Italy when the demand for troops had soared due to the collapse of the southeastern front. ṜãƝộ𐌱ËS̈

Finally, Hitler put an end to the debate.

“We cannot afford to lose Italy. So take action.”

At Hitler’s word, the German army decided to mobilize a large force.

Divisions began to be reinforced one after another through Austria, southern France, and Hungary.

In the meantime, Ribbentrop visited Rome to confirm whether Italy would remain in the Axis powers.

“Of course. The Duce’s fall is merely a reprimand against a failed leader, and Rome has no intention of betraying its solidarity with Germany.”

Both Count Ciano and Ribbentrop knew this was an obvious lie.

Nevertheless, Ribbentrop did not press Ciano.

Germany needed time to gather its forces if it was to intervene.

Italy also needed time to negotiate with the Allies.

As the interests of both parties aligned, they could shake hands with smiling faces.

“Then, I will report it as such to the Führer.”

“Please do.”

As soon as the plane carrying Ribbentrop left for Germany, the Italian government sent someone to Tunisia to begin negotiations with the Allies.

“We would like to discuss the terms of Italy’s surrender.”

At those words, the British and Korean generals burst into laughter.

“You are in no position to propose terms. Either go back or surrender unconditionally. Choose one of the two.”

The attitude of the Allies was high-handed.

No, even though they were offering the Italian mainland and 2 million Italian troops, they couldn’t present a single condition?

Cesare De Vecchi³, the envoy who had crossed the sea to represent Italy, could not hide his bewilderment.

“What will you do? Surrender or war?”

At the point of ousting Mussolini, the Fascist Grand Council had no choice.

“We will surrender.”

Cesare De Vecchi could no longer hold out and raised the white flag.

The Korean and British governments received this news and sent their respective telegrams.

The British government said,

“Then please prepare for our troops to make an administrative landing in southern Italy and Sicily.”

Britain intended to secure a bridgehead and leisurely enter Italy.

The Korean government had a slightly different idea.

“First, hand over Mussolini.”

“No, that’s…”

“It is the strong demand of His Excellency Lee Sung Joon.”

When Lee Sung Joon, one of the key leaders of the Allies, insisted on receiving Mussolini, the Italian government was also put in a difficult position.

No matter what, it was a bit much to hand over a major figure who had been the country’s supreme leader to someone else’s hands.

The Fascist Grand Council decided to drag out this issue.

“Absolutely not.”

“Didn’t you surrender unconditionally?”

“Still, there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”

The verbal battle lasted for nearly a month.

In the meantime, the Allies completed their landing preparations and made administrative landings on the island of Sicily and in Naples.

During this process, there was no resistance from the Italian army.

“Do not resist and surrender obediently.”

The Italian generals readily complied with the order.

Even the Italian expeditionary force in Turkey, which had been stubbornly resisting until then, received the government’s order to surrender and handed over their weapons to the Turkish army.

Now, Italy’s surrender seemed to be a foregone conclusion to anyone.

Right then, Germany made its move.

“You must rescue Mussolini at all costs.”

“Don’t worry.”

A special unit led by Lieutenant Otto Skorzeny⁴, who had thoroughly trained for a month while keeping track of Mussolini’s whereabouts, raided the mountain lodge where Mussolini was detained using gliders.

Operation Oak⁵, the mission to rescue Mussolini, ended before the Italian army could blink an eye.

The German army occupied the lodge, then leisurely descended the mountain by cable car and escaped.

“Wha- the Prime Minister has fallen into German hands?”

“Ye- yes, Your Excellency.”

The Italians were bewildered by this situation.

The fact that Germany had taken the Prime Minister meant nothing less than that they had finished preparing for a full-scale intervention.

As things turned out this way, the Koreans reprimanded the Italians in a strong tone.

“You have ruined everything. If you were going to hand Mussolini over to the enemy, you should have killed him instead!”

Italy had nothing to say even if it had ten mouths.

Mussolini’s rescue was just the beginning.

The German army attacked the Italian army like a wave in southern France, northern Italy, and throughout Yugoslavia.

Although the Italian army had far more troops in number, they were no match for Germany in terms of organization, morale, and equipment.

“How can we defeat those German bastards? They’re not human, they’re machines.”

The Italian soldiers surrendered to the German army, their former allies, with their hands up.

As the German army pushed down at lightning speed, the Italian government was helpless.

“No, we haven’t even made an official declaration of surrender yet?”

The government had issued orders for the military to surrender without resistance, but the government itself had not surrendered.

So they had not betrayed the Axis powers.

Italy may have acted based on this logic, but Germany was no longer fooled.

“It’s because of these idiotic bastards that the war has become difficult. Trample them all.”

The German army showed no mercy.

The speed at which the German army moved southward was far faster than the speed at which the Allied forces moved northward.

The Allied commanders gathered in Naples for a meeting.

“At this rate, it seems we will clash with the German army. Should we proceed north to Rome?”

Baek Dong-seok ran the numbers on his calculator.

This time, the enemy is the German army, and our forces are insufficient. Since we have already shown sincerity to the Soviets by opening a second front, it’s better to be satisfied with a part of Italy and buy time.

Unless it was Britain, which had its neck in the Mediterranean, Korea had no intention of shedding any more pointless blood.

Hadn’t His Excellency Lee Sung Joon also instructed them to minimize casualties?

Due to Baek Dong-seok’s strong opposition, the Allied forces stopped at the Rapido River, which was advantageous for defense in terms of terrain.

It was right across from where the German army had built the Gustav Line in the original history.

The British expressed regret at this.

“Still, it’s a bit disappointing to just give that natural defensive line to Germany. It looks like it will be extremely difficult to break through that by force.”

But Colonel Baek Dong-seok had no intention of even considering such a foolish act.

Why would they do such a thing?

Sung Joon had said this much.

“Father-in-law. Please secure only half of Italy and maintain a standoff. Then, the Italian Reds will take care of it on their own.”

As always, Sung Joon gave instructions for the Reds to handle it while the Korean army reaped the benefits.

It was an order that suited Colonel Baek Dong-seok’s taste as well.

The main battlefield will be in a different region anyway, so there’s no reason to shed blood here.@@novelbin@@

Italy might become a bit noisy after the war, but that wasn’t the Korean army’s concern.

“Set up the garrison.”

Baek Dong-seok decided to think of it as a vacation to Italy.

Footnotes

1. 1. Victor Emmanuel III, born Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia, was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia and King of the Albanians following the Italian invasions of Ethiopia and Albania.
2. 2. Otto Christian Archibald, Prince of Bismarck, was a German politician and diplomat, and the Prince of Bismarck from 1904 to his death.
3. 3. Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and fascist politician.
4. 4. Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the removal from power of Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy and the Gran Sasso raid which rescued Benito Mussolini from captivity. Skorzeny led Operation Greif in which German soldiers infiltrated Allied lines wearing their enemies' uniforms. As a result, he was charged in 1947 at the Dachau Military Tribunal with breaching the 1907 Hague Convention, but was acquitted.
5. 5. During World War II, the Gran Sasso raid codenamed Unternehmen Eiche or "Operation Oak", by the German military on 12 September 1943 was a successful operation by German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos to rescue the deposed Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from custody in the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. The airborne operation was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, approved by General Kurt Student and planned and executed by Major Harald /genesisforsaken